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Promising Practices

The Promising Practices database informs professionals and community members about documented approaches to improving community health and quality of life.

The ultimate goal is to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and evaluation of successful programs, practices, and policy changes. The database provides carefully reviewed, documented, and ranked practices that range from good ideas to evidence-based practices.
Learn more about the ranking methodology.

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Flex Your Power Case Study: San Bernardino County (San Bernardino County)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: San Bernardino County’s goal in 2001 was to reduce its energy use by 10 percent.

Washington State Diabetes Collaboratives (WSDC) (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes in Washington.

King County (KC) Kids Oral Health Program (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the KC Kids Oral Health Program was to provide no-cost dental services to children who lived between 250% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Washington State Perinatal Partnership Against Domestic Violence (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Women's Health, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this project is to improve systems of care for Asian and Pacific Islander pregnant women who are experiencing domestic violence in order to address disparities in pregnancy outcomes in the Asian Pacific Islander Community.

DLM Early Childhood Express/Imagine It! (Palm Beach)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Urban

Goal: To improve the school readiness of children in Palm Beach County.

Campesinos Diabetes Management Program (Yuma County, AZ)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural

Goal: The goal of the Campesinos Diabetes Management Program was build social support as a means to improve self-management of diabetes.

Charlotte REACH 2010 (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To improve three health behaviors that are risk factors for diabetes and heart disease (fruit & vegetable consumption, physical activity, and cigarette smoking) in an African American community.

Enrolling and Supporting Organizations Who Encourage Donation of Organs, Marrow, Tissue, or Blood (Buncombe County, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement

Goal: In May, 2002, the Buncombe County Medical Society committed to enrolling 100 organizations into the Workplace Partnership initiative. BCMS declared itself "community headquarters" for recruiting Buncombe County businesses and organizations in the Workplace Partnership for Life program, and implemented a plan to support these organizations in their efforts to urge donation.

Flex Your Power Case Study: Elihu M Harris State Building (San Francisco)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of this program was to improve the energy efficiency of the Elihu Harris State Office Building.

Healthy Kids Clinic (Fayette County, KY)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children

Goal: The goal of the Healthy Kids Clinics is to provide access to free health care to children in high-poverty schools in Fayette County.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.

A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.